Founded in 2012 with £250m from the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest charity investors, Syncona offers a rare combination to would-be innovators working on exciting new therapies: deep pockets and patience. Both are critical to Syncona’s strategy, which includes helping companies such as Autolus Therapeutics, Freeline, Gyroscope Therapeutics and Achilles Therapeutics develop and scale new gene and cell therapies for commercial launch. That may take some time, but by design: the high risks associated with founding and maintaining significant ownership stakes in early-stage companies – and holding them through late-stage product development – is rewarded by the rate of return multiples, if they succeed. Of the 13 companies owned by Syncona since its launch, two have been sold, one failed, and two were merged together. Of the nine companies in its current portfolio (see Exhibit 1), Syncona founded six, all of which are focused on gene or cell therapies.
Syncona’s net asset value (NAV) at the end of the 2019 fiscal year was £1.5bn ($1.8bn), up from £895m ($1.1bn)...
